Bearcats keep on clicking with win

Published 10:19 am, Monday, April 25, 2016

Then something clicked  and now Ubly finds itself in a position to do something last year's team couldn't  win the Greater Thumb East championship.

The Bearcats took another major step toward that goal while running their winning streak to seven games with a hard-fought 58-45 win over Marlette on Tuesday night.

"I told them after team camp this summer that I think we're going to surprise a lot of people  and so far we have," said Leipprandt.

"We had a very talented team last year, but these kids played and practiced against those guys, so a lot of people didn't realize what we had coming back."

Leipprandt said the reason behind the turnaround is pretty simple.

"This group of guys has such a great work ethic, they come out and work hard every day  and they have great attitudes," he said. "When you put those two things together, you're going get good results."

The win was anything but easy as Marlette stormed out to a 12-4 edge in the opening minutes, but had to settle for a 12-8 lead by the end of the quarter.

Ubly was able to tie the game at 19 by halftime.

"We've been telling the kids that this team was better than its record," Leipprandt said.

The Bearcats responded in the second half with a solid effort as they outscored the Red Raiders 22-17 in the third to grab a 41-36 lead heading into the final eight minutes.

In the fourth, they nearly doubled up Marlette with a 17-9 run to put the game out of reach.

"I was really proud of how we kept our composure and executed the game plan," Leipprandt said.

Dan Weber scored 12 of his season-high 25 points in the second half to help Ubly secure the win.

Most of Weber's points came from close range, which is something Leipprandt has been looking for from his big man.

"It just makes our team a little tougher because (Eric) Pichla can hit 25, (Mark) Recker can hit 25, and now Weber can hit 25," Leipprandt said.

"It really balances out our team to have a big guy scoring like that."

Pichla added 11 points for the Bearcats while Brian Redman was the only player in double figures for Marlette with 18 points.

Ubly's win, coupled with Harbor Beach's 67-49 decision over Mayville on Tuesday sets the stage for a GTE showdown between the only teams yet suffer as conference loss as each are 4-0.

Although Leipprandt won't let his team think about winning the GTE right now, he knows the importance of Friday's game  and defending the homecourt.

"The league is going to be tough, we still have a lot of road games ahead, so you have to win your home games to give yourself a shot," he said.